The present invention refers to an electrical stimulator comprising an obturator intended to be worn within the vagina or anus, said obturator being provided with electrodes energized by a pulse generator and thereby controlling the urethral-, the bladder and/or the rectal function, and said obturator being made of a flexible material, which is expandable and thus provides a safe fixation of the obturator within the body.
Disorders of the bladder function is a big problem for the individual as well as for the medical service. Urinary incontinence is very frequent and requires a lot of time for the nursing considering change of clothes, bedclothes etc.
Efforts have been made for solving these problems in many different ways, e.g. by means of technical means for collecting the urine, which works fairly satisfactory for men, but is more difficult to make with women. Efforts have also been made to electrically stimulate the pelvis floor by the implantation of electrodes into the pelvis floor muscles, said electrodes being connected to a receiver introduced into the body, said receiver electromagnetically being fed with impulses from a transmitter outside the body. This method requires a surgical operation and is relatively complicated and expensive.
According to another method urethra closure is achieved by electrical stimulation by means of electrodes placed on a intravaginal or intraanal plug of an appropriate shape. The plug is usually of rigid plastic and has a circular cross-section, and the electrodes consists of circumferential metal rings. The plug is rounded at the end being inserted into the body, whereby an exact placing and fixation of the plug in the body is difficult to achieve. Besides that it can be unpleasant to wear such a rigid plug in the body and there is a risk that the plug can slip out. Furthermore a relatively diffuse stimulation of the entire pelvic area is obtained by means of the circumferential electrodes.